The main suspect, former Malir SSP Rao Anwar and his subordinates were produced before the trial court in the case pertaining to extrajudicial killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud on Saturday. Investigation officer of the case produced some CCTV footage as evidence and the court directed him to produce more videos. DSP Qamar Ahmed, who is a close aide of Anwar and is among the accused in the case, filed a bail application and submitted that he was not present when the encounter took place. He had nothing to do with the case, he said. The court, after hearing the initial arguments on the bail application, issued notice to the prosecution, but prosecutor Kareem Nawaz, who was present in the court due to the absence of main prosecution lawyer Ali Raza, refused to accept the notices regarding.

He said Ali Raza is the prosecution's lawyer in the case and he is the one who can accept these notices, the substitute lawyer told the court, to which the ATC judge said: "It is astonishing that lawyers are refusing to even receive notices. “I had already written to the Sindh High Court that if they are forwarding this case to us, they should also send us the staff and the lawyers to handle the case," the judge remarked.

According to sources within the legal community, Raza failed to appear in the court because of threats. "Raza has said that he cannot appear in court for Rao Anwar case because he is receiving threats," said a lawyer, who requested anonymity.

Before court proceedings, Anwar kept chatting with his former subordinates and asked how they were. The former SSP also commented on a lack of proper air conditioner in the court. "I think the AC is not working properly," Anwar said.

As usual before the hearing began, the ATC judge had banned entrance of anyone except the defendants into the court. As a result of this embargo, the security personnel posted outside the court also tried to keep the claimant and his lawyer from entering the court. However, both men were allowed to enter the court when they raised strong objections to being kept out of the hearing. "This trial is to be held in open court; holding an in-camera session is against the law," the lawyer objected.

According to the prosecution, Anwar, 11 of his subordinates and 14 absconders are accused of abducting the Waziristan native shopkeeper and aspiring model Naqeebullah for ransom and later killing him, along with three other detainees, in a staged encounter in Karachi's Malir area on January 13.